Wendy's
Wendy's is an international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio, United States. The company moved its headquarters to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of March 1999, Wendy's was the world's third largest hamburger fast food chain with approximately 6,487 locations, following Burger King's 12,000+ locations and McDonald's' 31,000+ locations. On April 24, 2008, the company announced a merger with Triarc, the parent company of Arby's. Despite the new ownership, Wendy's headquarters remained in Dublin. Previously, Wendy's had rejected more than two buyout offers from Triarc Companies Inc. Following the merger, Triarc became known as Wendy's/Arby's Group (now The Wendy's Company), a publicly traded company. Approximately 85% of Wendy's restaurants are franchised, and 77% of them are located in North America. Wendy's and its affiliates employ more than 47,000 people in its global operations. In fiscal year 2006, the firm had $2.469 billion (USD) in total sales. While Wendy's sets standards for exterior store appearance, food quality and menu, individual owners have control over hours of operations, interior decor, pricing and staff uniforms and wages. Wendy's menu consists primarily of hamburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries and beverages, including the Frosty. Unlike Burger King and McDonald's, the company does not have a signature sandwich, such as the Whopper or the Big Mac. Instead, it has the Dave's 1/4 lb. Single (introduced in 2011 as Dave's Hot 'N Juicy as a reworking of the longstanding Wendy's Single, shortened to simply Dave's in 2016), a square-pattied burger made with fresh ground beef rather than round frozen patties. Wendy's uses these square hamburger patties – which hang over the edge of a circular bun – as its signature item. History The chain is known for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries and the Frosty, a form of soft serve ice cream mixed with frozen starches. The idea for Wendy's "old fashioned" hamburgers was actually inspired by Dave Thomas's trips to Kewpee Hamburgers in his home town of Kalamazoo, Michigan. The Kewpee sold square hamburgers and thick malt shakes, much like the well-known restaurant that Thomas eventually founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. The Columbus location later added a Tim Hortons and was closed on March 2, 2007, after 38 years of business due to declining sales. Thomas named the restaurant after his fourth child Melinda Lou "Wendy" Thomas. Photographs of her were on display at the original Wendy's restaurant until it closed. In August 1972, the first Wendy's franchisee, L.S. Hartzog, signed an agreement for Indianapolis, Indiana. Also, in 1972, Wendy's aired its first TV commercials that were only broadcast locally in Ohio. This series of commercials was titled "C'mon to Wendy's", because they stressed Wendy's superiority through the "Quality Is Our Recipe" slogan and featured an animated Wendy similar to the one from the corporate logo along with dancing hamburgers. In December 1976, Wendy's opened its 500th restaurant, located in Toronto, Canada. Wendy's founded the fried chicken chain Sisters Chicken in 1978, and sold it to its largest franchiser in 1987. In 1979 the first European Wendy's opened in Munich. The same year Wendy's became the first fast-food chain to introduce the salad bar. Wendy's entered the Asian market by opening its first restaurants in Japan in 1980, in Hong Kong in 1982 and in the Philippines and Singapore in 1983. In 1984 Wendy's opened its first restaurant in South Korea. In response to a 1986 slowdown in the chain's performance, Wendy's restructured its cleanliness standards, menu and other operational details to ensure that stores met the goals and standards of the parent company so that its franchises were competitive in the market. Wendy's closed all its outlets in Hong Kong in 1986 and in Singapore in the following year. A Wendy's restaurant in Kingston, Ontario, built just before the introduction of the new logo in 2012. From 1988 to 1990 Wendy's expanded operations globally to Mexico, New Zealand, Indonesia, Greece, Turkey, Guatemala, as well as the U.S. Naval Base in Naples, Italy. In 1988, Wendy's expanded its bar to a full-blown buffet called the Superbar for $2.99. The Superbar had various stations: "Mexican Fiesta", the Italian "Pasta Pasta," and the "Garden Spot", salad and fruit. The Superbar was popular but difficult to maintain thus was discontinued in 1998. In 1989 Wendy's opened its first restaurant in Greece at Syntagma Square being the first foreign fast food chain in the country. After opened 12 restaurants in 3 cities the company finally abandoned the Greek market in 2002. In 1996 the chain expanded in Argentina by opening 18 local restaurants. However, all of them closed only four years later due to the economic crisis in the country. In 1998 Wendy's pulled out of South Korea by closing all its 15 restaurants and in 2000 exited from the UK, Argentina and Hong Kong. Garden Sensations salads were added in 2002. Wendy's signed a franchise agreement to re-enter in Singapore market in 2009. However, it quit Japan after 29 years of presence in the country due to differences with its local franchisee. In 2011 Wendy's returned to Japan and Argentina announcing a development agreement for 50 restaurants in the country. It also entered the Russian market for first time with plans to open 180 restaurants over a 10-year period. In 2013 Wendy's opened the first restaurant in Georgia and made a deal to open 25 restaurants in Georgia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 2014 Wendy's closed all its restaurants in Russia. In September 2014 several pork based products were introduced to be on sale until early November. These included a standard pulled pork sandwich with slaw and three sauce options, a BBQ Pulled Pork Cheeseburger and cheese fries with pulled pork, cheddar cheese sauce, onions and barbecue sauce. In April 2015, Wendy's announced they would be closing their Singapore outlets. In May 2015, Wendy's announced they would be expanding into India, with its first outlet located in Gurgaon. Wendy's is planning to sell 540 of its restaurants. The divesture is the second step in a three-step action plan to improve the brand. Other steps include new openings and remodeling of existing stores. In 2015, the brand expects to open 80 new restaurants. It will remodel 450 of its existing locations. The brand's goal is to remodel at least 60% of its North American locations by 2020 year-end.